Electronic method and system that improves efficiencies for rendering diagnosis of radiology procedures

ABSTRACT

An electronic method and system for improving radiologists&#39; efficiencies when viewing radiology procedures and rendering diagnosis in a manner that emulates current methods and apparatus. The method of the present invention includes reviewing electronic radiology images and reports contained in a patient&#39;s digital master folder (an information object invented to manage the patient&#39;s radiology information), comparing images from the current procedure to specific images from prior procedures in a specified order, and dictating the procedure&#39;s diagnosis into the digital master folder. The apparatus of the present invention includes a flat panel monitor for the viewing and manipulation of digital master folders, a dictation trackball device for manual and voice enabled operation and navigation of the system, and multiple high-resolution computer monitors functioning as a “light-box” for the viewing of radiology images.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/168,106 filed Nov. 30, 1999. The subject matter ofthis application is incorporated by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus forimproving radiologists' efficiencies when viewing radiology proceduresand rendering diagnosis.

[0004] 2. General Background of the Invention

[0005] Typically, every radiology office uses a dictating machine forthe preparation of reports, a stack of master folders that containpatient information, and a light box, roto viewer, or like device forviewing radiology images. These images can include for example x-rays,ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography,nuclear medicine images and the like.

[0006] The manual file folder system employed by radiologists andradiology departments is inefficient and cumbersome.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention provides an electronic method of improvingthe efficiency of a radiologist and of a radiology department.

[0008] With the present invention, a plurality of computer monitors areprovided for displaying various images. At least one of the monitorssimulates a radiology “light box”, roto viewer, or like device fordisplaying electronic radiology images.

[0009] At least one of the monitors is used to display a digitalgraphical representation of a patient's folder, namely a digital masterfolder.

[0010] A hyperlink is used to open the report and to open different“pages” of the patient's master folder.

[0011] In one embodiment, a voice activated command can be used to openthe patient's master folder or to open “pages” of the patient's folder.

[0012] In another embodiment, a track ball device such as a computermouse can be used to open the patient's master folder or “pages”contained within the folder.

[0013] In another embodiment, the radiologist/user is provided with acombination microphone/track ball device that enables the radiologist oruser to open the patient's master folder or components thereof usingeither voice activated commands or the track ball device. A touch screendevice hyperlink can also be used to open a patient's folder or report.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] For a further understanding of the nature, objects, andadvantages of the present invention, reference should be had to thefollowing detailed description, read in conjunction with the followingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements andwherein:

[0015]FIG. 1 is a screen capture image showing a patient's radiologymaster folder that displays basic patient information including name,number, and study date;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a screen capture image showing the report, displayed bydouble clicking on the report hyperlink;

[0017]FIG. 3 is a screen capture image showing the audio graphicaldisplay generated by the audio hyperlink 15;

[0018]FIG. 4 is a screen capture image showing a modality subfoldergenerated by double clicking on the ultrasound header 17;

[0019]FIG. 5 is a screen capture image that shows radiology images intwelve up format;

[0020]FIG. 6 is a screen capture image that shows radiology images infour up format;

[0021]FIG. 7 is a screen capture image that shows radiology images incine mode;

[0022]FIG. 8 is a screen capture image that shows a cine set display;

[0023]FIG. 9 is a screen capture image that shows radiographic images,showing current chest x-rays views, on the two high resolution monitorswith the roto viewer window displayed;

[0024]FIG. 10 is a screen capture image that shows chest x-ray viewscurrent and most recent with the roto viewer window displayed;

[0025]FIG. 11 is a screen capture image that shows radiographic imagesdemonstrating picture zoom;

[0026]FIG. 12 is a screen capture image showing radiographic imageswithout the roto viewer; and

[0027]FIG. 13 is a screen capture image showing multiple images usingthe roto viewer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028]FIG. 1 shows a digital representation of a patient folderdesignated generally by the numeral 10. Patient folder 10 shows twohyperlinks 11, 12. At the top center of the folder 10, a header 17indicates that this folder can, for example, relate to an ultrasound.The folder could relate to their radiology procedures. By clicking onthe ultrasound hyperlink, the window shown in FIG. 1 is opened providinga report display area 13 to be filled with the report information intext form as dictated by a radiologist.

[0029] When a radiologist double clicks on the report hyperlink 12 inFIG. 1, the screen in FIG. 2 is displayed which is the report screen 14containing patient information and the substance of the report. Audiohyperlink 15 can be double clicked using the computer mouse in order toactually hear the report. When a user double clicks on the hyperlink 15in FIG. 2, the display in FIG. 3 is shown on the screen having agraphical display for the audio.

[0030] When the radiologist double clicks on the ultrasound header 17 inFIG. 1, the screen provided in FIG. 4 has a modality subfolder 18 havinga hyperlink 19. When the radiologist uses the computer mouse to doubleclick on the exam hyperlink in FIG. 4, actual radiology images as shownin FIG. 5 are displayed.

[0031] In FIG. 5, a left computer monitor 20 and a right computermonitor 21 are shown. In FIG. 5, a “twelve up” configuration is shown ineach of the monitors 20, 21. In FIG. 6, a “four up” configuration isshown in each of the monitors 20, 21. In FIG. 7, a cine mode is shownfor each of the monitors 20, 21. In the cine mode, sets of images aregrouped and maintained in that grouping on a selected screen 20 or 21.FIG. 8 is a screen capture image that shows a cine set display.

[0032] FIGS. 9-12 show the use of the method and apparatus of thepresent invention to display full size radiology images, namely oneimage per screen 20, 21. In FIG. 9, as an example, image 31 is a leftimage, current PA for a patient. The right image in FIG. 9 is an imagethat is a current lateral for the patient. To the left hand side in thescreen capture of FIG. 9, a roto viewer 22 is also shown. The rotoviewer in FIG. 9 is comprised of two columns of boxes, each columncontaining a set of windows, each window can be designated by thenumeral 25. The windows 25 can be scrolled to display various radiologyimages as further shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0033] In FIGS. 9 and 10, the upper left window box of roto viewer 22 isdesignated by the numeral 23. The upper right window box is designatedby the numeral 24. The screen captures of FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrateexamples of radiology images that can be displayed using the method andapparatus of the present invention.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 10, the roto viewer 22 can include differentgroups of images in each of the window boxes 23, 24, 25 or 26. In FIG.10, the window 23 contains those images which are displayed in the lefthand computer monitor 20. The window box 24 of roto viewer 22 containsimages which are displayed in the right hand monitor 21 in FIG. 10.Other images can be contained in other window boxes of the roto viewer22 as shown in FIG. 10, just below window boxes 23, 24. Each of theseimages 33, 34 appear in the roto viewer window boxes 23, 24. The rotoviewer 22 can be moved about the screen by dragging it.

[0035] In FIG. 11, the zoom feature of the present invention isillustrated. Each of the screens 20, 21 display a zoomed image. Themonitor 20 displays image 36. The monitor 21 displays image 39. At thelower left hand corner of each of the screens 20, 21, there is provideda picture in a picture display. This picture in a picture displayincludes the smaller picture 35 showing a chest x-ray as an example. Theviewing area 37 represents that portion of the chest x-ray 35 that is tobe displayed in zoom format as image 36 in FIG. 11. Similarly, themonitor 21 displays at its lower left hand corner a picture in picture38 having viewing area 40 that designates the zoom area of the chestx-ray 38. The image 39 is that portion of the image contained withinviewing area 40 and which has been enlarged to fill substantially all ofscreen 21.

[0036]FIG. 12 illustrates monitors 20, 21 with the roto viewer 22removed.

[0037] In FIG. 13, the group of windows 27, 28, 29 and 30 representdifferent cine sets or groups of images that have been purposely groupedtogether by the radiologist. Each of the windows 27-30 can be movedabout within the roto viewer to move the displayed images around thescreens 20, 21.

PARTS LIST

[0038] Part No. Description

[0039]10 folder

[0040]11 hyperlink (ultrasound)

[0041]12 hyperlink (report)

[0042]13 report display area

[0043]14 report

[0044]15 audio hyperlink

[0045]16 graphical display - audio

[0046]17 ultrasound header

[0047]18 modality subfolder

[0048]19 hyperlink

[0049]20 left monitor

[0050]21 right monitor

[0051]22 roto viewer

[0052]23 left window box

[0053]24 right window box

[0054]25 windows/roto viewer

[0055]26 windows/roto viewer

[0056]27 windows group

[0057]28 windows group

[0058]29 windows group

[0059]30 windows group

[0060]31 left image/current PA

[0061]32 right image/current lateral

[0062]33 left image/current PA

[0063]34 right image/most recent lateral

[0064]35 picture in picture

[0065]36 image - zoom

[0066]37 view area

[0067]38 picture in picture

[0068]39 image - zoom

[0069]40 view area

[0070] The foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only;the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by thefollowing claims.

1. An electronic method of improving the efficiency of a radiologist,comprising the steps of: a) providing a system that includes a computerand a plurality of monitors interfaced with the computer, each monitorfor displaying an image; b) using at least one of the monitors tosimulate a radiology “light box” for displaying electronic radiologyimages; c) using at least one of the monitors to simulate a digitalgraphical representation of a patient's master folder; d) using ahyperlink to open the folder displayed in step “c” to displayinformation contained in the folder; and e) using a hyperlink thataccesses the folder to display a radiology image.
 2. The method of claim1 wherein in step “d” a voice activated command is used to open thepatient's master folder.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein in step “d” atrackball device is used to open the patient's master folder.
 4. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising the step of providing a combinationdictation and trackball device, and wherein in step “d” a user canselectively use either a voice activated command or a trackball to openthe patient's master folder.
 5. The method of claim 1 further comprisingthe step of using the computer to interface the monitors and thehyperlink.
 6. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of usingthe computer to interface the monitors and the combination dictation andtrackball device.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein there are twomonitors in step “c” that are used to display electronic radiologyimages.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitor in step “c” that isused to display electronic radiology images is a high resolutionmonitor.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the monitors in step “c” thatare used to display electronic radiology images is a high resolutionmonitor.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein in step “b” the image viewedis an ultrasound image.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein in step “b”the image viewed is a magnetic resonance image.
 12. The method of claim1 wherein in step “b” the image viewed is a computer tomography image.13. The method of claim 1 wherein in step “b” the image viewed is acomputer radiology image.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein in step “b”the image viewed is a nuclear medicine image.
 15. A method for reviewingelectronic radiology information including patient demographics,radiology procedures, radiology reports and radiology images, comprisingthe steps of: a) loading the radiology information associated with aselected group of patients that are assigned to a selected radiologistinto a computer memory; b) displaying an image of a radiology masterfolder on an area of a computer display; c) generating data fieldsassociated with a digital master folder on the image of a master folderincluding patient's name, medical record number, date of birth, sex, andinformation regarding all procedures including date, type of procedure,report, and radiologist; d) displaying information associated with thepatient from computer memory in a data field on the computer display; e)associating links with the procedure and report data fields to providefor the viewing of additional information or images when clicked; f)clicking on the report field, displays a new window that contains thetext of the report and a link to the digitally recorded dictation of thereport, that when clicked will play the recording; g) placing a cursorover the report field on the digital master folder, to display summaryinformation of the report; h) clicking on the procedure field to send acommand to a viewing portal to load all of the procedures and imagesthat meet the criteria of the radiologist's file; i) generating asearchable and selectable list of patients that have procedures assignedto the radiologist on the computer display; and j) providing commandsthat navigate through the stack of master folders, displayinginformation associated with a new patient in a data field on thecomputer display from computer memory.
 16. An apparatus to access,store, and distribute electronic radiology information including patientdemographics, radiology procedures, radiology reports and radiologyimages comprising: a) an information data base including patientdemographics, radiology identification number, procedures, images,reports, orders and appointments; b) means for transmitting andreceiving the information between computers connected to a computernetwork via extensible markup language (XML), HTTP, TCP/IP; and c) meansfor searching for a plurality of user specified types of informationcontained in the information data base.
 17. A multi-monitor radiologyimage viewing system comprising: a) a plurality of monitors; b) acombination dictation and trackball device that provides a hyperlink forthe viewing of the patients' information and medical images on separatemonitors comprising: c) a radiology portal that includes a monitor and acomputer for the searching and that includes viewing medicalinformation; d) said viewing portal consisting of at least two monitorsdesigned for the viewing of a plurality of radiology images includingcomputer radiology, computer tomography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine,and magnetic resonance images; and e) said combination dictation andtrackball device including a voice component that issues operational andnavigational commands to the radiology portal and viewing portal byproviding continuous speech recognition for the creation of dictatedradiology reports.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the radiologyportal consists of a flat panel monitor and computer for the searchingand viewing of medical information stored internal and external to thesystem.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the radiology portalconsists of a touch screen flat panel monitor and computer for searchingand viewing of medical information stored internal and external to thesystem.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the radiology portalconsists of a flat panel monitor and computer with multi-processors forsearching and viewing of medical information stored internal andexternal to the system.
 21. The system of claim 17, wherein theradiology portal consists of a touch screen flat panel monitor andcomputer with multi processors for searching and viewing of medicalinformation stored internal and external to the system.
 22. The systemof claim 17, wherein the viewing portal consists of a singlehigh-resolution monitors design for the viewing of a plurality ofradiology images including computer radiology, computer tomography,ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and magnetic resonance images.
 23. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the viewing portal consists of a singlehigh-resolution computer monitor.
 24. The system of claim 17, whereinthe viewing portal consists of two high-resolution computer monitors.25. The system of claim 17, wherein the viewing portal consists of afour high-resolution monitors design for the viewing of a plurality ofradiology images including computer radiology, computer tomography,ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and magnetic resonance images.
 26. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the viewing portal includes sixhigh-resolution monitors for the viewing of a plurality of radiologyimages including computer radiology, computer tomography, ultrasound,nuclear medicine, and magnetic resonance images.
 27. The system of claim17, wherein the viewing portal consists of eight high-resolutionmonitors design for the viewing of a plurality of radiology imagesincluding computer radiology, computer tomography, ultrasound, nuclearmedicine, and magnetic resonance images.
 28. The system of claim 17,wherein the combination dictation and trackball device includes aseparate mouse and microphone.
 29. A method for loading images from acurrent radiology procedure and specific images from prior radiologyprocedures in a user specified order into a user interface that includesa computer and computer monitors comprising: a) receiving and loadingpatient information into computer memory; b) comparing the informationof step “a” to display requirements contained in a user profile in orderto determine the order in which images from the current procedure aredisplayed and the order in which selected images from selected priorprocedures are displayed, and creating a list of images to display; c)determining which images on the list already exist in the image cache ofthe system of claim 17; and d) downloading all images that do not existin the image cache of the system of claim
 17. 30. A method fordisplaying images from a current radiology procedure and specific imagesfrom prior radiology procedures in a user specified order into thesystem of claim 17 comprising: a) loading the image list created in themethod of claim 29 into the viewing portal and digital roto viewer; b)resizing the images to fit correctly into the digital roto viewer'sframes; c) displaying a roto viewer containing all of the images in thecorrect order on the first high-resolution monitor; and d) display thedigital roto viewer's first frame in the viewer portal's light-box. 31.A method of dictating a radiology procedure's diagnosis into the systemof claim 17 comprising: a) issuing a command to dictate a report in theviewer portal; b) sending a command to the radiology portal whichdisplays the dictated text of the report; c) loading the patientdemographic and procedure information into the appropriate sections ofthe new window; d) digitally recording the voice input; e) convertingthe voice input into text via continuous speech recognition; f)displaying the text in a section of new window in the radiology viewer;g) issuing a command to digitally sign the report in the viewer portalvia the dictaphone/trackball, sending a command to the radiology viewerto generate and sign the report; h) generating and digitally signing thereport in the radiology viewer; and i) inserting the report into thesystem of claim 17.